The game of golf is played by persons of widely varying abilities, from highly skilled professionals to amateurs who may play only a few times a year. The game is played on golf courses which generally have eighteen holes dispersed over an area which is landscaped to include a number of hazards, such as water, rough, sand traps (also known as bunkers), and trees or other vegetation designed to make the game have varying degrees of difficulty. Difficulty also is increased by varying the distances among the various holes. To begin the play for each hole, a ball is hit from a tee area and driven onto a fairway, or onto the green. At the end of each hole, which can vary in length, from the tee to the actual hole or cup on the green into which the ball must be placed, from about 100 to 600 yards, the ball usually must be putted to complete the play for that hole.
Repetitive practice is required to develop a consistent swing pattern for each of the different clubs involved in the play of the game of golf. Perhaps the most difficult, however, is the putter. In the putting portion of the game of golf, the object is to direct the ball across the putting green until it comes to rest in the hole or cup. Generally, the putting green is a smooth and closely cut grassy area surrounding the actual hole. Because of this type of surface on the putting green, a ball will roll relatively easily and rapidly when it is struck with even a light force. For a flat green, an accurately hit golf ball will travel along a straight path to the hole. Some greens, however, contain a slope to one side or the other, and a golfer tries to determine the proper target direction with which to strike the ball to allow the ball (once struck) to follow a proper curved path to the hole.
In every case, whether a ball is being putted on a straight line to the hole or at a different path to allow it to curve into the hole (in the case of a sloped green), it is necessary to accurately and squarely strike the ball in order to send it on its desired direction. A golfer""s inability to accurately and consistently squarely strike or aim the ball with a putter, and smoothly swing the putter to effect this strike, is a major source of undesirable strokes on the score card of many golfers. It is difficult for most golfers to properly align the putter adjacent the ball to effect a square (right angle) striking of the ball when the ball is located even a short distance from the hole (on the order of 6 to 10 feet). This occurs since the golfer is generally unable to simultaneously see the ball, the club head, and the hole into which the ball is to be dropped. While this problem also exists when using other types of golf clubs, the reduction in the number of putts required by a golfer once the ball is placed on the green usually is the difference between a low score and a high score for any golfer, whether that golfer is a professional or an amateur.
In practicing putting, as well as for trainers who are assisting golfers in improving their putting game, it is difficult to accurately determine exactly what is happening at the moment of impact of the putter head with the ball. As a consequence, this is a most difficult part of the game to improve consistently. It is necessary for a golfer to develop a putting technique where after repetitive practice the golfer can intuitively know how he or she needs to swing the putter head to achieve right angle orientation of the club face to the desired direction of the ball, along with the proper xe2x80x9cfeelxe2x80x9d for the amount of force required for putts of different lengths.
A number of devices have been developed to assist a golfer in practicing his or her putting game. Many of these devices employ the use of a beam of light or a laser line projected from the putter shaft or the putter head to assist the golfer in visually ascertaining the direction of travel which is to be imparted to a ball at the moment of impact. Several United States patents, all of which disclose the use of this general technique, include Nilson U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,034; Tindale U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,150, Walmsley U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,429; Carney U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,221; Carney U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,222; Carney U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,739; Hodgson U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,296; Finney U.S. Pat. No. 5,725,440 and Osborn U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,626. All of these patents require the mounting of some apparatus, such as a laser light source and its operating power supply, either on the putter shaft or on the putter head itself. All of these devices change the balance and the xe2x80x9cfeelxe2x80x9d of a putter. They cannot be used in actual play of the game; so that if a golfer practices with such devices and develops a desirable technique, removal of the device from the putter shaft or the putter head causes the weight and balance distribution to vary. The putter, as used subsequently in actual golf play, then does not behave in the same manner it did when the training aid was attached. This is a serious disadvantages with such devices, since the putter itself must be modified in order to use the device.
A different approach for improving the sighting line of golfer using a putter is disclosed in the United States patent to Mick U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,897. In the Mick device, a laser light source is located behind the hole, and is directed across the hole to the ball which is to be putted. The golfer then assumes a normal ball hitting stance and addresses the ball with a special putter, and aligns the putter head adjacent the ball in a direction which the golfer believes to be the correct direction to the target. With the putter in this position, the golf ball is removed. A mirrored surface on the face of the putter head then reflects the light beam back to a target located at or behind the hole. The deviation between a line normal to the mirrored surface and the line between the location and the target is measured to determine the amount of deviation. Alignment lines on the putter head then are adjusted; and the operation is repeated. Once the reflected beam is aligned with the transmitted beam, the alignment lines are noted. The golfer then may acquire a golf club which has alignment lines oriented on the head corresponding to the ones which have been determined through the alignment procedure with the special putter. This device does not allow for repeated practice with a putter and a laser light source, and is simply used once to mark the alignment lines on the putter head.
The United States patent to Daly U.S. Pat. No. 5,818,036 also is directed to a laser light source located behind an indoor practice hole to direct a line of light across the hole and onto the floor. This line acts as a fixed guide to the hole or target. This is not a practical solution for outdoor use, because a laser line (usually red) has very low visibility in bright sunshine on the putting surface, or on the putter head. It also does not address the orientation of the putter face to the ball.
Another approach, which does not require the attachment of a device to the putter shaft or putter head, is disclosed in the United States patent to Densberger U.S. Pat. No. 6,071,202. This patent is for an optical system which is placed on the ground behind the putting position, and is directed across the ball toward the hole. A line of light in a vertical plane is designed to extend from the source across the ground, the ball and the hole, and across the top of the putter; so that the golfer can see this line throughout the putting stroke. There is nothing, however, which allows the golfer to actually determine the angle at which the face of the putter strikes the ball. In addition, this device may be difficult to use in actual outdoor golfing conditions, since bright sunlight may make it very difficult to observe the laser line projected on the ground, across the ball and to the hole.
Another attempt to assist a golfer in improving his or her putting game is disclosed in the United States patent to Currie U.S. Pat. No. 6,117,020. This patent uses an approach somewhat similar to that of Mick. In using the device of this patent, the golfer positions the putter to direct a golf ball toward a hole. Once the golfer places the striking face of the putter in what he or she believes to be the proper alignment, the golf ball is removed and replaced with the laser sighting device. The sighting device has a flat surface which is placed flush against the ball-striking face of the putter. The device then is turned on, projecting a laser light from the pointer to the golf hole. The light beam then provides an indication of whether a golfer is aiming to the left or to the right of a target line between the position of the golf ball and a hole or simulated-hole. The problem with this device, however, is that it does not function during an actual putt where the putter is moved from a back swing, back to the position where it continues on to strike the ball. Initial alignment is carefully made by the golfer, who then may somehow unknowingly alter this alignment during the back swing and forward stroke required to effect an actual putt.
It is desirable to provide a method and apparatus for enabling a golfer to determine the aiming tendency during an actual putting stroke, which overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art, which does not alter the balance and feel of the putter, which is easy to use and easy to interpret.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved golfing aid.
It is another object of this invention to provide an improved putter aligning device and method.
It is an additional object of this invention to provide an improved putter aligning device and method employing a laser light source and a reflective surface carried by the head of the putter.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an improved device and method for determining the aiming tendency of an individual golfer during a putting stroke which utilizes a laser beam reflected from a surface perpendicular to the striking face of the putter head during an actual putting stroke.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of this invention, a method and apparatus are disclosed for determining the aiming tendency of a golfer during a putting stroke. A mirror is placed on the toe of the putter head perpendicular to the ball-striking surface of the putter head. A collimated beam of light, which may be from a laser light source, is projected at a right angle to an imaginary line between a ball to be putted and a target hole. The beam is positioned to strike the mirror on the putter head when the head is in position to strike the ball. The beam reflected from the mirror on the putter head is used to provide an indication of the putter head orientation at the time the putter head strikes the ball.